1. Field
The disclosure is directed to fiber optic connectors and methods for making the same. More specifically, the disclosure is directed to push-pull fiber optic connectors having a latch actuated by a cam surface.
2. Technical Background
Optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of applications, including but not limited to broadband voice, video, and data transmission. Benefits of optical fiber use include extremely wide bandwidth and low noise operation. With the increasing and varied use of optical fibers, it is important to provide efficient methods of interconnecting optical fibers. Fiber optic connectors have been developed for this purpose. It is important that fiber optic connectors not significantly attenuate or alter the transmitted signal. In addition, the fiber optic connector should be relatively rugged and adapted to be connected and disconnected a number of times in order to accommodate changes in the optical fiber transmission path.
Often times an array of optical fiber connectors are arranged in patch panels arranged in equipment racks to allow one location for optical interconnections and rearrangement of the network (i.e., moves, adds, and changes to the optical network). Moreover, as bandwidth requirements increase the fiber optic connectors are being arranged in high packing densities within these patch panels and/or equipment racks. Consequently, as the density of fiber optic connectors in a given space increases the amount of space available to the craft for grabbing and manipulating the fiber optic connector is generally reduced. For instance, the fiber optic connectors are spaced so close together that the craft may have difficultly grabbing an individual fiber optic connector to disengage and remove the same from a fully populated patch panel. The craft may try to remove several adjacent fiber optic connectors to access the desired connector and disengage the latch, but this undesirable, time-consuming and could result in a making a misconnection when reassembling the optical network.
Thus, there is an unresolved a need for a fiber optic cable connector that is simple, reliable, easy to assemble, and which offers easy connection and disconnection for the craft in high-density installations.